Power-actuated plate glass cutter{3 s table

ABSTRACT

A flat table pivotally mounted to rotate about a horizontal axis from a position in which the table is slightly inclined from vertical to a horizontal position there being pegs extending from the table near the lower edge thereof to support a sheet of plate glass inclining against the table, said sheet rocking with the table to horizontal position for a glass cutting operation. A glass-breaking bar is confined in a slot provided in the table and is reciprocable upwardly broadside from said slot by a multiple toggle mechanism to break a sheet of glass lying on said table along a score line cut in said sheet and aligned with said bar.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Byron W. Allen 188 South 1 St., SanBernardino, Calif. 92410 [21] Appl. No. 805,467 [22] Filed Mar. 10, 1969[45] Patented Mar. 16, 1971 [54] POWER-ACTUATED PLATE GLASS CUTTERSTABLE 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs. 52 US. Cl 225/104, 225/96.5 [51] Int. ClB26f3/00 [50] Field of Search 225/96 5, 96,104,103,2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,117,736 11/1914 Whittemore225/96.5

2,793,471 5/1957 Motoharukurata et al. 225/96.5 2,924,044 2/1960 Basso225/103 3,216,635 11/1965 Lefevre 225/96.5 3,244,338 4/1966 Ritter, Jr.et al. 225/96.5 3,253,756 5/1966 Haley et al 225/96.5X

Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost Attorney Dana E. Keech ABSTRACT: A flattable pivotally mounted to rotate about a horizontal axis from aposition in which the table is slightly inclined from vertical to ahorizontal position there being pegs extending from the table near thelower edge thereof to support a sheet of plate glass inclining againstthe table, said sheet rocking with the table to horizontal position fora glass cutting operation. A glass-breaking bar is confined in a slotprovided PATENTED MARI elem $570,734

p u n qm n n n n m ----u INVENTOR.

29 BYRON w. ALLEN 5 Ex ATTORNEY.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an improvement inthe Power Actuated Glass Cutters Table disclosed and claimed in mycopending application Ser. No. 776,526, filed Nov. 18, 1968. Theinvention there disclosed employs a multiplicity of air cylindersindividually connected to the breaker bar at spaced intervals along thatbar and air actuated from a common control valve, to accomplish thebroadside reciprocation of a breaker bar in the breaking a sheet ofglass.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to improve theaforesaid glass 3 cutters table so as to assure that all portions of theouter edge of the breaker bar are applied to a glass sheetsimultaneously and with the same velocity and pressure. It includes arockable table slotted to receive the breaker bar and a novel togglemeans which embodies the breaker bar as one of its elements, and a drivebar which is coextensive with the breaker bar and mounted for onlylongitudinal sliding movement on the table parallel with and close tothe breaker bar, and these two bars are connected to each other byuniformly inclined toggle links located at spaced intervals. The breakerbaris guided on the table frame so that it is restricted in its movementto being readily slidable broadside out of said slot or retractablethereinto. Thus, endwise sliding movement of the drive bar imparts suchbroadside movement to the breaker bar, the direction of the lattermovement depending on the direction of the endwise movement of the drivebar.

Suitable power means is preferably provided for shifting said drive barand thus actuating the breaker bar for breaking sheets of glass restingon said table.

The superiority of the present invention is derived from the preciseuniformity with which all portions of the breaker bar are simultaneouslyejected from a table slot confining the same thereby maintaining theupper edge of the breaker bar parallel with the plate glass sheetsupporting surface of the table as said sheet is engaged by the breakerbar. Under this condition, a clean, straight fracture of a sheet ofglass along a properly 1 produced score line properly aligned with thebreaker bar is practically assured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspectiveview of the glass cutters table of the present invention illustratingthe latter provided with, a breaker bar mounted in a slot extending fromedge to edge of the table in a plane perpendicular to the axis ofrotation of said table and with a plate of sheet glass resting on saidtable with a straight score line out in said sheet with said score linealigned with said bar in readiness for elevation of the latter to breaksuch sheet along said line.

HO. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 andillustrating the toggle mechanism of the present invention provided foractuating said breaker bar and with said breaker bar in retractedposition.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG.2 and illustrating the means for guiding said bar ejected broadside fromthe table into glass sheet breaking position.

DESCRIPTTON OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring specifically to thedrawings, the improvement of which the present invention consistscomprises a glass cutters table 10 which includes a perimetric frame 11which is strengthened by a series of angle iron members 12 transverselydisposed in said frame and spaced at intervals throughout the lengththereof, said angle iron members including angle iron members 13 and K4.Secured to'perimetric frame ll and to angle iron members 12 is a tabletop 15 covered with a carpet l6. Said table top is provided with a pairof pegs 17 along the lower edge of 'said table top and the table top hasformed therein a slot 18 which extends transversely across the tableparallel with and between angle iron members 13 and 14. Binbodiedlongitudinally in the table 10 and extending lengthwise thereof from endto end of the frame 11 is a pair of solid shafts 19 and 30 which arefixed at their ends to frame 11 and extend through suitable aperturesformed in angle iron members 12 and are welded to said frame and saidmembers.

Vertically slidable in slot 18 is a breaker bar 25 which extendstransversely the full width of the table top 15. This breaker bar is cutout at 26 at its ends so as to fit over end members of the perimetricframe 11 and is also slightly out out along its lower edge to fit overshafts l9 and 20. Welded on the breaker bar at right angles therewithare guide lugs 27 which are spaced to just receive the shafts 19 and 20therebetween and thus guide the breaker bar 25 to restrict movement ofsaid breaker bar to a movement which is parallel with said lugs, whichis to say, a broadside movement of the breaker bar 25 in the plane ofslot 18.

Table 10 is pivotally mounted on shaft 19 in a manner clearly shown indetail in my copending application (supra). For the purposes ofdisclosing the present invention, it will be unnecessary to havereference to this means for rotating table 10 and said table will beconsidered merely as supported ina horizontal position as shown'in FIG.1.

Secured by bolts 28 to angle iron members 13 and 14 is a series of pairsof drive bar support brackets 29 which have the form of right angles andhave parallel legs 30 between the extremities of which a roller 31 isrotatably supported on a sleeve 32 which is secured to the brackets by abolt 33. Slidably fitting between the legs 30and riding on rollers 31 isa drive bar 34. The drive bar 34 is thus supported parallel with thebreaker bar 25 and is connected to the latter by a series of togglelinks 35 which are pivotally connected at their upper ends to thebreaker bar 25 and at their lower ends to the drive bar 34 with saidlinks parallel with each other at all times, these links have the samedistance between the axes of their pivotal connections with said bars.The axes of their upper pivotal connections are all in a givenhorizontal line and the axes of their lower pivotal connections are allon another horizontal line. The links 35 are formed in pairs each link35 comprising a pair of links 36 applied to opposite sides of the bars25 and 34, the upper end of each pair of such links 36 being pivotallyconnected by a bolt 40 to the breaker bar 25 and the lower ends of eachsuch pair of links 36 being pivotally connected by a bolt 41 to thedrive bar 34.

Mounted on certain of the angle iron members 12 of the table 10 is acylinder mount 42 on which is pivotally mounted a fluid cylinder 43, thepiston rod 44 of which pivotally connects to the end of a lever 45, thislever being pivotally connected by a pin 46 to the breaker bar 25 and bya pin 47 to the drive bar 34. The distance between the centers of thepins 46 and 47 is identical with the distance between the upper andlower pivot points in each of the links 35 and the line connecting thecenters of pins 46 and 47 is parallel with the lines connecting theupper and lower pivot centers of the links 35.

orERArioN 49 which lead to a suitable control valve (not shown butlocatedat one edge of the table It?) for the controlling of delivery offluid under pressure alternately to opposite ends of said cylinder. Bythis means the operator is able to extend the piston rod 44 of saidcylinder from the position in which it is shown in FIG. 2 to theposition in which it is shown in FIG. 4 thereby shifting the drive bar34 endwise over the rollers 31 and causing a precisely uniform broadsideshifting of the breaker bar 25 from the position in which it is shown inFIG. 2 to the position in which it is shown in FIG. 4. The actuation ofsaid toggle mechanism in this manner is accomplished after a sheet ofplate glass 50 has been iaid on the table 10 and provided with a scoreline 51 and the plate of glass then shifted to bring said score linedirectly over the breaker bar 25 and parallel therewith, as shown inFIG. 1. This view'illustrates completion of the steps just mentionedprior to ejecting the breaker bar 25 upwardly from slot 18 so as toaccomplish the breaking of said sheet of glass along said line.

FIG. illustrates the manner in which the ejection of the bar causes acracking of the glass along the score line 51, following which theoperator immediately reverses the flow of fluid under pressure in thecylinder 43 so as to return this to the position in which it is shown inFIG. 2 and retract the breaker bar 25 from its extended position to itsretracted position in which it is confined to the table slot 18.

The restraint placed upon the breaker bar 25 by the lugs 27 which guidethis bar on shafts 19 and 20 restricts the movement of said bar to adirection parallel with the lugs 27 which is to say to a broadsidemovement of the breaker bar 25 in a direction at right angles to the baritself. The drive bar 34 being given antifriction support by the rollers31 with said bar parallel with the breaker bar 25, the links 35 by theirparallelogram toggle action on the breaker bar 25, when the drive bar 34is moved horizontally, produces an upward ejection of the breaker bar 25from slot 28 in which the upper edge of the breaker bar is at all timesmaintained in true parallelism with the top surface of the table top 15.The engagement of the upper edge of the breaker bar 25 with the lowersnrface of the sheet of plate glass 50, when the breaker bar is thusejected upwardly from the slot 18, is such that the breaker bar contactsall portions of the sheet 50 disposed over said bar simultaneously andwith a uniform upward pressure and rate of movement so as to produceonly balanced strains in the glass along this line without variation.

While the table of the present improvement is disclosed herein as havingthe breaker bar 25 thereof mounted in a plane lying at right angles tothe shaft 19 about which the table is rockably mounted, this position ofthe breaker bar 25 is optional and it may be incorporated with the table10 along any desired straight line such, for instance, as with thebreaker bar 25 parallel with said axis of rotation of the table, as thebreaker bar is mounted in the glass cutters table disclosed in mycopending application (supra).

To accommodate links 35, suitable enlargements 60 are provided in slot18 in the table top 15. Likewise, enlargements 61 in said slot areprovided to accommodate lugs 27.

I claim:

1. A plate glass cutters table comprising:

a flat table having a relatively nonabrasive upper surface which isprovided for supporting horizontally a sheet of plate glass for thepurpose of making one or more straight cuts in said glass;

there being a slot formed in said surface of said table;

a breaker bar mounted in said slot;

guide means restricting movement said bar in said slot to a movementbroadside and edgewise upwardly therefrom and then a return into saidslot;

a drive bar mounted close to and parallel with said breaker bar:

means for guiding said drive bar to effectively restrict the movement ofsaid bar to a sliding lengthwise movement;

a series of toggle links located at longitudinally spaced intervalsalong said drive bar;

each link being pivotally attached at one end to said drive bar at onepfa longitudinally aligned series of axes; said links betng uniformly meme obliquely relative to said bars; and

the other ends of said links being pivotally attached to said breakerbar on a longitudinally aligned series of axes, said links being ofequal length measured pivotal center to pivotal center.

A table as recited in claim 1 wherein one of said toggle links has adownward extension from its lower end forming an operating lever foraccomplishing the endwise shifting of said drive bar and the broadsideelevation of said breaker bar.

3. A table as recited in claim 2 wherein remotely controlled power meansconnected to the lower end of said lever is provided for accomplishingthe rapid elevation and lowering of said breaker bar as required in aglasssheet-breaking operation.

4. A table as recited in claim 3 wherein said power means comprises afluidextensible cylinder and piston means pivotally mounted at one endon said table and pivotally connected at its other end to said lever.

1. A plate glass cutter''s table comprising: a flat table having arelatively nonabrasive upper surface which is provided for supportinghorizontally a sheet of plate glass for the purpose of making one ormore straight cuts in said glass; there being a slot formed in saidsurface of said table; a breaker bar mounted in said slot; guide meansrestricting movement of said bar in said slot to a movement broadsideand edgewise upwardly therefrom and then a return into said slot; adrive bar mounted close to and parallel with said breaker bar; means forguiding said drive bar to effectively restrict the movement of said barto a sliding lengthwise movement; a series of toggle links located atlongitudinally spaced intervals along said drive bar; each link beingpivotally attached at one end to said drive bar at one of alongitudinally aligned series of axes; said links being uniformlyinclined obliquely relative to said bars; and the other ends of saidlinks being pivotally attached to said breaker bar on a longitudinallyaligned series of axes, said links being of equal length measuredpivotal center to pivotal center.
 2. A table as recited in claim 1wherein one of said toggle links has a downward extension from its lowerend forming an operating lever for accomplishing the endwise shifting ofsaid drive bar and the broadside elevation of said breaker bar.
 3. Atable as recited in claim 2 wherein remotely controlled power meansconnected to the lower end of said lever is provided for accomplishingthe rapid elevation and lowering of said breaker bar as required in aglass-sheet-breaking operation.
 4. A table as recited in claim 3 whereinsaid power means comprises a fluid-extensible cylinder and piston meanspivotally mounted at one end on said table and pivotally connected atits other end to said lever.